New Research Has Shown That Crows Have The Same Numerical Skills As Human Toddlers, With The Ability To Count Aloud Up To The Number Four

According to Diana Liao, a co-author of the study and an animal physiologist from the University of Tübingen, the crows would sometimes refuse to caw for the number four, which resulted in a 40 percent accuracy rate.

They would even peck at the screen to end the test right away. Furthermore, the crows paused before cawing correctly.

They had longer reaction times for higher totals, indicating that they planned their responses prior to vocalizing them.

Other bird species have been found to have a numerical sense as well. For example, a study of black-capped chickadees in 2005 revealed that the number of their “dee” vocalizations in their alarm calls changed depending on the size of the predator within their proximity. The presence of smaller predators elicited more sounds.

In the future, the researchers hope to determine how crows use their counting skills in the wild and figure out which parts of the brain the birds are utilizing when engaging in that type of behavior.